Thermopsis montana

Thermopsis montana Nutt.

Mountain goldenbanner, Montane golden-banner, Golden pea, Buckbean

Synonym(s):

This perennialís slender, 16-32 in. stems, purplish with a white coating, are slightly branched above and bear three-parted leaves. Yellow, lupine-like flowers occur in dense to interrupted clusters 4-12 in. long. Flowers are followed by velvety pods. A number of varieties are separated largely on the amount of pubescence present on the foliage. A plant with one or several hollow stems, slightly or not at all hairy, and yellow pea flowers in long racemes in upper leaf axils.

This genus resembles the Lupines, but Thermopsis has only 3 leaflets on each leaf; Lupinus has more. Yellow Peas, while handsome plants, are suspected of being poisonous. Among the several western species, some quite hairy, Prairie Thermopsis (T. rhombifolia), which grows on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and on the northwestern plains, has pods that spread outward from the curve or coil.